I agree wholeheartedly with your views on the negative effects on lock-in, and as an OS enthusiast I am saddened by the current state development from companies such as Microsoft (and Apple for that matter).

In my opinion Apple has been extremely successful in providing aesthetically pleasing physical and technical improvements, whereas companies such as Microsoft continues to release subpar products - Windows 8 and Surface to name their latest flops.

Aesthetics and usability goes a long way and Apple has set the bar - not in innovation - but from an execution standpoint. Sadly, the competitors - if any - are embarrasingly slow in just keeping pace and plain incompetent when it comes to delivering competitive aesthetics.

Sadly, I see no significant improvements coming from the competition in the forseeable future, because of the obvious flaws in the traditional decision making process. Too many chefs spoil the soup.